Growth-Hungry Inserts East Looking to Expand

PENNSAUKEN, NJ—With many of its competitors either shedding jobs or shuttering their shops completely, Inserts East finds itself in a unique and advantageous position as a printer on the rise.

The company, which prints circulars and newspaper inserts for clients ranging from supermarket ShopRite to Dick’s Sporting Goods and retailer Five Below, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that it has hired 30 employees in the past few months and purchased a rebuilt, eight-unit Heidelberg Harris heatset web press and two folding machines.

The press was delivered in April. Owner Nicholas Maiale added that business has been so brisk that he is thinking of installing an additional line.

The article pointed out that several of Inserts East’s competitors have struggled. AFL Web Printing closed its Voorhees, NJ, operation last fall, while Vertis Communications shut down its Saugerties, NY, plant, which served retailers in the Northeast. Another competitor, Creps United Publications of Indiana, PA, suffered a devastating plant fire, but has announced plans to rebuild.

Maiale told the paper that he hired a number of key former AFL and Vertis employees.